Driving while intoxicated, whether it’s with drugs or alcohol in your system, is against the law. Even if the drugs are prescribed, it’s possible to face charges if you’re driving in a negligent or dangerous manner.
A new study has addressed the growing problem of drugged drivers in America. According to the study, driving while under the influence of drugs, both legal and illegal, has become so common that more drivers tested positive for drugs than for alcohol after fatal crashes in 2015. In those crashes 41.7 percent of people were intoxicated with drugs, and 37.3 percent had alcohol in their systems.
This stands out as a problem because there is currently no standard procedure in place for testing drivers after crashes. If drugs aren’t tested for, then it is impossible to know how serious the problem is nationally. Alcohol is easy to test for, because a simple breath test reveals how much alcohol is in a person’s system. There is no test as simple for drug testing.
It is important to recognize that some drugs affect people differently, and you may not even have realized you were intoxicated when you got behind the wheel. For example, if you have been on a medication for a long period of time, you may not have expected it to cause side effects. If it did, that was unexpected and something you could not have predicted based on your past experiences.
If you’re involved in a crash and accused of drugged driving, your attorney can help. You deserve a chance to defend yourself against charges and to protect your reputation.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Study raises alarm about drugged drivers,” Ed Blazina, April 26, 2017
